Landscape Masterclass – Mt Cook

Duration: 4 Day

Location: Mt Cook National Park

Price: $2,200

14th - 17th September 2018

Our Mt Cook workshop is designed as an ideal programme to expand your skills as a photographer.

We will base ourselves in Mt Cook Village at the comfortable Hermitage Hotel and here we have access to a conference room where there will be time during the evenings to download our photographs and work on post-processing and critique. Over this workshop, you will learn to shoot a diverse range of subject matters including, mountains, glaciers, macro and nature photography and the night sky & astrophotography. Mt Cook has world-renowned clear skies with no light pollution, offering the chance to photograph the Milky Way above the Southern Alps. The workshop also includes a ski-plane flight over Mt Cook to do some aerial photography

The workshop includes return transport from Queenstown or you can meet us at Mt Cook Village.

LEARN

Landscape photography

Aerial photography

Astrophotography

EXPERIENCE

Ski-plane over Mt Cook

Capture NZ hightest peak

3 nights stay at the Hermitage Hotel

Day 1

We will pick you up early from Queenstown or meet you at Mt Cook village at lunch time. After assembling at Mt Cook Village, our home for the next three nights, we will run through an introductory programme for the finer points of working in manual mode and advanced settings for landscape photography, before heading out for an evening shoot in the Tasman Valley.

Day 2

The day begins early with some pre-dawn astrophotography before heading back to the hotel for breakfast. The rest of the day will be taken up alternating between locations in the park and covering a whole range of techniques for advancing your photography.

Day 3

Today we will venture further afield to explore more of the beautiful Mackenzie Country. This afternoon we will do a ski-plane flight (included in the price) over Mt Cook to learn the basics of aerial photography.

Day 4

After an early morning sunrise shoot in the Tasman Valley, we spend some time reviewing photographs from the previous four days and covering post-processing before the workshop finished after lunch today, with return transport then provide back to Queenstown for these this join us here.

The order of each day's shoot may change due to weather, but at this time of the year, the changeable weather often presents some of the best light.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Class Size

Maximum group size of 8. Groups of 3-4 will be led by only one tutor and groups of 5-8 will be led by two tutors. Limiting class sizes ensures we provide you with the best learning environment possible, including expert guidance, instruction and personal attention, according to your learning style.

Itinerary

Our exact schedule will be determined according to the whole group’s photographic objectives and the weather, we keep a flexible itinerary to accommodate this. We will spend the workshop instructing and shooting, often from before dawn until after dark. At some point, during the weekend the tutors will give a lecture on their photographic ability and how you can apply their systems and vision to develop your own unique style.

Start time on day 1: The workshop will start at 8am at Queenstown or 12 pm at Mt Cook on the first day.

Finish time on day 4: The workshop will finish at 1 pm at Mt Cook or 5 pm at Queenstown on the last day.

Transport

You can meet us at Mt Cook or we can provide return transport from Queenstown. Once at Mt Cook, we will provide transport around the park.

Physical Difficulty

A minimum level of physical activity is necessary to enjoy the workshop. All locations we shoot will be within an easy walk along the coastline, but sometimes over rocky beaches carrying your own equipment. If fitness or mobility is an issue please let us know - there are often locations which offer great shooting possibilities close to the road or our accommodation, or sometimes we also have the option to split the group.

Equipment & Experience

Ideally, you will have a basic knowledge of photography and be comfortable adjusting camera settings such as aperture and shutter speed. An aim of the workshop is to give you more confidence in the creative control of camera settings and shooting in manual mode. We will have a brief session at the start of the workshop, covering camera settings and controls, to be sure everyone is up to speed.

Camera Equipment: Our workshops focus on how to use your camera, not your type of camera. A basic list of recommended camera equipment can be found here

Clothing:A list of recommended clothing to wear on the workshop can be found here

Booking & Payment

A non-refundable deposit of NZD$400.00 is required to reserve your space for the workshop. The remaining balance is due 14 days prior to the start of the workshop. You may pay in full at time of booking, the balance (minus the deposit) will remain fully refundable until 14 days before the workshop.